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IASC moves to Akureyri: now officially announced by the Icelandic Foreign Ministry

The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) has approved that the office of the committee will move from Germany to Iceland next year.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Committee in Fairbanks, Alaska, last night. The Icelandic government decided in mid-February to finance the operation of the office for the next five years.

The announcement released by the Foreign Ministry says that the aim of IASC is to promote cooperation on research in the Arctic and to advise the government on matters of.

"The organization brings together public research organizations and associations from 23 countries and has established itself as one of the most important international cooperative forum for research and monitoring in the Arctic.

Akureyri hosts institutions dealing with Arctic issues, including the Stefansson Arctic Institute, the Arctic Council working groups: PAME (Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment) and CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Fauna and Flora); and the Iceland Arctic Cooperation Network. Akureyri is also the host of the Arctic Portal, company specializing in collecting and communicating information and data on the Arctic. Therefor in Akureyri there is a powerful Arctic community under one roof that could create many synergies with IASC office.

From the beginning Rannís has been involved IASC on behalf of Iceland. IASC has observer status in the Arctic Council and plays an important role in the dissemination of information from the scientific community on the results of research in the natural and social changes in the Arctic. Office of Arctic Science Committee has been located in Potsdam in Germany since 2009, before that, IASC has been located in Sweden and Norway. The office is responsible for the daily operation of IASC, "says the notice.